


though we're far apart you're always in my heart

by dreamiesficfest, lunariajen



Series: Dear Dream - Dreamies Fic Fest (Third Wave) [11]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: 90s heartthrob, Angst, Fluff, M/M, minor death mentions, slowburn, theres little of markhyuck in this markhyuck tbh, time traveling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-03-02 11:36:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18810115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamiesficfest/pseuds/dreamiesficfest, https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunariajen/pseuds/lunariajen
Summary: Prompt Number: #DD017Time traveling for sure is dangerous, but Donghyuck never thought it could be dangerous for his heart as well. Until Mark Lee, a boy from the future, proved him wrong.





	though we're far apart you're always in my heart

**Author's Note:**

> first thing, it’s probably not at all what the prompt author had in mind but! i hope you’ll enjoy it anyway (i'm not fully satisfied though). the title is from michael jackson’s song~ also, guys listen to jaemin and care for the environment. + side note, details are important.
> 
> [playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1JE9fwLZzfhLPa5ZXcetub)

"What do you think about it, Donghyuck?"

It was dark outside, the spacious garage was covered in darkness except for the dirty, old, green sofa, lightened up by the as much ugly, yellow lamp. Donghyuck squinted his eyes as he looked up from the science textbook he was reading with a skeptical expression.

"I'm not saying dad, but Jeno would call you a freak and sadly, I must agree with him."

The older man shook his head, leaning on the piece of furniture his son was sitting on. He was blankly gazing at the work of his life, now emitting blue light, contrasting with the yellow one. Donghyuck shifted his stare once again and spoke quietly, avoiding his father’s eyes.

"Dad... Do you think it's going to work? Will I see mom?"

The question hanged unanswered for a while, the atmosphere heavy until the man let out a deep sigh.

"I can't guarantee you anything. But remember not to interact with anyone much enough to have any impact on their life. You must not change anything in the past. It's really dangerous. And if you were to ever visit the future, you can't meet your older self. Which may be hard, because, in the end, you never know if you'll stay here and waste your time on the beach with Jeno, if you'll become a busy dad, or if you’ll run a company together with that Chinese friend of yours."

“So in conclusion, I must never go to the future?”

“It’s for your own safety, Donghyuck.”

The boy nodded, paying his attention back to the book while trying to get rid of the anxiety, creeping slowly into his brain. He wasn’t ready for what was coming soon. Way too soon.

⦁ ● ⦁

The usually blue sea was now light orange, the same color as the sky. The breeze kept making Donghyuck’s hair fall into his eyes as he was laying on his stomach and swinging his legs back and forth. Next to him on the checkered blanket was Chenle with his head rested on Jeno’s chest. The oldest one was gazing at the deep blue and yellow clouds while chewing on a straw from the chocolate shake he had drunk before. Suddenly, the Chinese boy who seemed to be dozing off turned his head at Donghyuck.

“The best movie from last year.”

“Titanic,” the boy replied immediately, not really surprised by the question.

“How about you, Jeno?”

Jeno stared at the boy snuggled to his side for a short while before shaking his head. “I don’t know, there were a few good ones…”

“One, Jeno.”

“Ugh, okay. ‘Men in black.’”

“You guys are so tasteless, I can’t believe none of you said ‘Hercules’…” Chenle seemed genuinely disappointed as he pouted slightly, going back to his light nap.

“Don’t you dare call me tasteless when I said ‘Titanic,’” Donghyuck snorted and slurped his strawberry shake until the end. “It’s Jeno who doesn’t know what’s good.”

“Oh, I beg you, Hyuck. Don’t act like Sooyoung,” Jeno rolled his eyes. “I watched both ‘Titanic’ and ‘Hercules’ and the only things I liked about them are the soundtracks,” he shot the younger boy a defiant look.

“Oh, especially ‘I won’t say I’m in love’ is really relatable, isn’t it?” Donghyuck furrowed his eyebrows with a mischievous smirk.

Jeno only got to send him a death glare before the rain started dripping from the thick clouds. The whole three stood up right away, Jeno picked up the trash, knowing Jaemin wouldn’t let him live if they left it there. Chenle grabbed the blanket, murmuring something under his breath about how unpleasant the weather is in the summer and how spring is the best. Shortly after that, the boys entered Jeno’s house, which was the closest one to the beach. As soon as they stepped into the living room, Jeno’s mom ran up to them with a towel, nagging at them that they’re all going to get sick.

“Mom, it’s June, it’s warm outside,” Jeno sighed as the woman intensely rubbed his wet head, completely ruining his hairstyle.

“That doesn’t matter! The wind is cold and besides that, you’re wetting the floor.”

Chenle couldn’t help chuckle at the sight but then Jeno’s mom turned around, doing the same thing to him. The only person who managed to avoid this kind of drying was Donghyuck, who did it himself with a towel he took from the bathroom.

A few minutes later the three found themselves upstairs, sitting on Jeno’s bed, chatting about their daily stuff. Chenle was clinging to Jeno as usual, it became a habit of him over the past month he’s been staying on Jeju. Not like Jeno minded though. Donghyuck, however, couldn’t stand looking at the two, so he grabbed one of Jeno’s few science notebooks and started reading, completely ignoring his friends.

“Donghyuck? Are you deaf?” Jeno slapped his arm after what seemed like seconds to the younger boy.

“Uh, no, do you perhaps need something?” he asked, looking up from the book and blinking with confusion.

“We’re hanging out with Jaemin tomorrow, do you wanna go to the city center?”

Donghyuck squinted his eyes. “I don’t think your mom will like this.”

“She doesn’t need to know. I’m eighteen, I can decide about such stuff, breathing dirty air once in a while won’t kill me,” Jeno rolled his eyes, gaining a confused, pouty look from Chenle.

“We can go to the beach or to the park If you can’t go to more… crowded and polluted places,” he said, lifting his head up from Jeno’s shoulder.

“No, it’s fine, my mom’s just kinda paranoid.”

“She cares for your health, Jen. You know her reasons,” Donghyuck cleared his throat.

Jeno shrugged in response. “Jaemin will pick us up at ten. Show up if you want to go.”

⦁ ● ⦁

The day came. Donghyuck was sitting in his dark garage, thinking about the past week. Jeno, being the stubborn zodiacal Taurus he is, obviously went to the city center and nearly choked to death, but he’d say it was fun if you asked him. Because if you asked the other three guys, they’d most definitely say it was absolutely terrifying.

At some point, the door to the garage opened and Donghyuck’s dad came in, with a noticeably fake smile on his face.

“Donghyuckie, it’s time.”

The boy stood up and walked up to the time machine. He looked at the man with hesitance. “It’s not like in ‘The Terminator,’ right?”

“No, you don’t have to undress, son,” Donghyuck’s dad chuckled quietly. “Have you told Jeno?”

“Yes, he’s still not convinced but he said he supports me anyway.”

“That’s good,” the man became serious again. “Remember, you’re being sent to 1978, it was two years before you were born so you must not get into any situation in which you’d have to tell what’s your identity. You can freely interact with your mother, I’ll be there too so don’t worry, I'll provide you with money and stuff.”

Donghyuck just nodded, blinking fast so his father wouldn’t see the tears slowly filling his eyes. He’d read a huge amount of scientific books despite genuinely hating science, he’d done everything for his dad, only to feel more afraid than ever now, the moment his dad has been waiting for the most. “Alright, dad. I’ll be fine.”

“I know you will,”

And that was it. Donghyuck stepped into the machine radiating blue light, closed his eyes and waited. He’d expected spinning or literally anything but before he could even focus on what he was feeling, his eyelids became really heavy. The next thing he knew, he was uncontrollably collapsing into what felt like a hole with no end.

⦁ ● ⦁

When Donghyuck opened his eyes again, he wasn’t sure whether it’s time to cry or rather scream. He was inside of a subway. And sure, the first subway in Korea was opened in Seoul in 1974 so it shouldn’t be that shocking, especially since Seoul was his destination, but either his surroundings were nothing like in the ‘70s, or he knew absolutely nothing about this decade.

Soon, the subway stopped and Donghyuck left it without a second thought. When he walked outside, into the not-so-fresh air, his bewilderment was taken into a whole new level. When he noticed the amount of technology he was unfamiliar with, he realized his dad had messed up. It’s nothing near 1978.

The boy had no choice but to wander around, with no idea where to go. ‘This is the end of me,’ he thought with a bitter smile across his face, trying not to break down. As he looked around, he could see a huge amount of tall buildings, skyscrapers, advanced cars and phones. The day was nearing its end, the sky was half dark blue and half deep orange; it reminded him of all the sunsets he’s watched with Jeno ever since the older boy moved to Jeju. He missed him already, pushing away the thought of him being possibly deceased by now.

Donghyuck decided that doing anything is better than doing nothing in this case, and entering a shop happened to be his first idea. They sold pretty normal things there, it was like a convenience store but with many brands of food, he hadn’t seen before.

“Excuse me, which year is it now?” he asked the cashier, who shot him a surprised look.

“2018, sir,” the young woman kept staring at him as he widened his eyes at the response.

“Oh my goodness, Jeno and dad may still be alive! Oh, sorry,” he added when the cashier furrowed her eyebrows.

“Is it being recorded? I must admit you’re quite good at acting.”

Then Donghyuck thought maybe it was better to say it's only some kind of a prank and go. He absolutely shouldn’t just go around and tell everyone he’s from 1998 unless he desires to spend some time in a mental hospital.

“Uh, yes, thank you for your cooperation, miss.”

Ten minutes later the boy was already far away from the store. As he was looking around, he couldn't help but feel a bit dissatisfied. Not that he believed 'Back to the Future' was presenting an accurate prediction but the lack of hoverboards was nonetheless disappointing. Among all the shops in the city center, his attention caught an Internet café. Even though it looked completely different, it felt familiar. He used to go to the only Internet café in their area with Jaemin when they had some more time because each time it was a whole day trip. Actually, whenever the two went to the city center, it was a whole day trip. Amusement arcades already existed back then, and so did NBA Jam, Mortal Kombat or even Pac-man, which was already enough to take a few long hours from their lives.

When Donghyuck sat at a free computer, he began feeling slightly overwhelmed. Aside from the device being way too complicated for his liking, should he know what happened? Or more like, what’s going to happen? The safest choice was to check up on Jeno since he couldn’t find anything about his dad.

As he was scrolling through different results that showed up after typing ‘Lee Jeno’ in the browser with wide eyes, he heard someone chuckle behind him.

“What a stalker.”

When he turned around he was met with the smirking face of a tall, brown-haired boy in a grey T-shirt and black, unbuttoned shirt on top of it. He had hands in the pockets of his black pants and was leaning against a table, scanning Donghyuck’s face. The boy seemed a bit younger than Donghyuck, which meant he was, in fact, a lot younger than Donghyuck.

“I’m not a stalker,” Donghyuck opposed, raising his hands up a bit.

“Man, you’ve been reading every single article about Lee Jeno for a concerning amount of time.”

“To notice that you’d have to watch me for a while… And I’m the stalker here?” Donghyuck stood up from his chair, immediately regretting it after seeing the height difference between him and the boy.

“Actually, I wanted to know where you got this bomber jacket from. It’s like taken out of Backstreet Boys’ old music videos,” the stranger pointed at Donghyuck’s loose, purple and green jacket.

“Actually, Lee Jeno gave it to me for my birthday.” That was true.

“You know him personally?” the boy widened his eyes.

“Do you?”

“Uh, kind of,” he scratched his neck, “I’m a big fan of him, so he’s seen me many times.”

“Great, I can help you become friends with him but first I need to know where he lives.”

“How can I know that? I’m not a stalker, unlike you!” the boy snorted.

“I must know where I can meet him, that’s my… uncle!” Donghyuck couldn’t help but internally laugh at the thought. “I live on Jeju island so it’s been a while since I last time saw him and you know, I’m not exactly sure about what he’s doing now,” He was aware of how illogical the explanation is, because who travels like, 450 kilometers to meet someone who doesn’t even know about the visitation? But he just hoped the kid wouldn’t question him too much.

“Okay then, I know where you can find him. I’m Jisung. I can give you my phone number,” the younger boy shrugged with a short sigh, pulling out his iPhone.

“Awesome!” Donghyuck sent him a smile and searched for his phone in one of his gigantic pockets.

“Dude… Is that Nokia 5110?”

“Yes, what about it? Oh boy, you don’t even know how hard it was to get, it was the best phone back in 1998…” he was close to saying a bit too much. “Anyways, my name is Donghyuck.”

And that’s how Donghyuck made his first friend in the 21st century. The boys played some games together (the development of quality got Donghyuck stunned, not gonna lie), talked about Jeno (the Jeno Donghyuck knew and the Jeno Jisung knew seemed like two different people and that made the older boy genuinely horrified) but after some time Jisung had to leave. Of course, the young Lee could stay there all night, but the money he had was strongly limited. Because of the lack of any better option, he decided to take a long, night walk.

It was already past 10 P.M. so the majority of shops was now closed. Yellow street lamps and few neon lights were lightening up the emptying streets. Thankfully, the nights were already warm enough for Donghyuck not to freeze. Despite that, the feeling of being pretty much homeless was awful and the boy had no idea what to do so he walked into any 24h shop or gas station he saw while looking for a place to eat breakfast. He noted in mind one small tea shop with visible ‘90s aesthetics which he assumed could be something familiar to him.

Long hours passed, Donghyuck nearly got mobbed and started crying like two times. Used to a rather long sleep, naturally, he was simply exhausted. If he were to be honest, the only thing he wanted to do is to lie down on some dirty bench and sleep until he wakes up on his ugly, green sofa. Despite that, when the nearest milk bar opened, he was the first client to enter. After some time of eating and dozing off at the table, he decided to visit the tea shop he had found earlier.

Generally, the place seemed really cozy. The walls were painted in light, warm green and there were lots of plants and old lamps. Well, it showed only the stereotypical view of the '90s and it looked nothing like Donghyuck's house, but you could tell the owner put a lot of effort into it anyway.

Donghyuck sat at one of the light, round wooden tables, closing his eyes because of the sunlight coming through the huge window. The next thing he knew, someone tapped him on the shoulder lightly.

"Um, excuse me? Are you alright?"

The boy looked up to lock his tired, sleepy eyes with bright ones, filled with concern, of a tall, dark brown-haired boy. "Did I fall asleep?" he rubbed his eyes. "Gosh, sorry, I couldn't sleep at night."

"It's fine. Would you like to order anything?" the waiter sent him a warm smile.

"Something you recommend, I guess," Donghyuck shrugged, smiling back.

The waiter nodded and walked back to the counter, leaving the boy in an empty tea shop. However, it didn't stay empty for long. Donghyuck heard bells informing about the door being opened and then a gasp afterward.

"Oh my goodness! You really are a stalker! How did you know I'd be here?"

"I didn't, I'm literally as surprised as you, Jisung," he sighed when the teenager walked up to his table.

"That's sick, but at least I can show you around since you said it's your first time in Seoul. Sadly, I only know where Lee Jeno is in the evenings, so we can't go to him now," Jisung comfortably sat on the couch next to Donghyuck.

Soon, the waiter came back with a tall cup of a green liquid, decorated with sliced lemon and mint. "Here you are," he put it on the table with a smile and then turned his head to Jisung. "Is that a friend of yours?"

"I guess so, we met yesterday but anyways, Mark, that's Donghyuck, Donghyuck, that's Mark."

Donghyuck looked the waiter in the smiley eyes once again. They were pretty, the owner wasn't so bad himself. He nodded with acknowledgment yet couldn't help but feel like something's weird in the air. He decided not to overthink it as for now. The matcha tea was waiting.

“So, first I’ll show you around and then we can go to this big mall and then it’s going to be late already so we’ll just go see Lee Jeno,” a few minutes later Jisung was already slurping his simple green tea while tearing up a napkin into little pieces.

“You’re really willing to spend the whole day with a guy you met yesterday?” Donghyuck couldn’t help but stare at the boy with wide eyes. This was a type of behavior he’d never expect from this edgy-looking kid.

“Yeah, I mean you gotta make friends somehow,” Jisung shrugged. “My boyfriend keeps telling me to socialize so that’s what I’m doing now.”

“I’m not convinced that this is what he meant.” Donghyuck squinted his eyes.

“Oh, please. You own a Nokia 5110 and a jacket you probably stole from Justin Timberlake from the NSYNC era. I don’t think you’re much of a threat to me.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” he chuckled. “Let’s go then?”

Jisung stood up and waved to the waiter, currently taking an order at the counter. “We’ll be back, Mark!”

As soon as they came outside Donghyuck turned his head at the boy and asked. “Who is Mark to you?”

“You see, it's quite complicated with him. Our families were close when we were little but then my parents got divorced and Mark's family moved to Canada and we just kinda… stopped talking to each other 'cause we were too little to phone and stuff. And then one day my boyfriend dragged me all the way to this tea shop. Not gonna lie, I was skeptical about it but we ended up drinking here anyway ‘cause he seemed excited about it. The waiter seemed familiar to me but first thing, he dyed his hair blonde, second, he introduced himself as Mark and I used to call him by his Korean name, Minhyung. But eventually, we realized we know each other after a while and now he's pretty much like a brother to me,” Jisung exhaled loudly after he finished talking.

“Oh boy, I met only two people who could talk so much right after getting to know me.”

“It's my boyfriend's influence,” he chuckled softly.

“You talk about him a lot. I bet you're younger than me, though. Are you guys like… serious?” Donghyuck knew it was kind of a personal question but his friendship with the boy was developing at such a quick pace that somehow it didn't seem too intimate. Plus, he found it unusual how freely he talked about dating another boy. He wished things could be this way in his times too.

“As serious as teenage boys can get,” Jisung snorted with a smile that dropped as he said the next sentence. “You see, the problem is, he's leaving to the States in a few years. I'm aware it's going to hurt but I treasure him too much to leave him now so I just try to make as many beautiful memories as I can.”

“Uh, I understand,” Donghyuck sighed quietly. Jisung was indeed in a pitiful situation. “It's good that you have that kind of mindset though.”

“I guess. Do you have… someone?”

The boy chuckled in response. “Would you believe me if I told you that Jeno's mother wants me to court the daughter of her friend because the girl dislikes him?”

“You mean your grandma? And how can the same girl date both you and Lee Jeno, isn't there like a twenty years gap between you?” Jisung furrowed his eyebrows, stopping on the sidewalk.

Donghyuck widened his eyes, stopping too. It was the second day and he slipped the second time already.

“I said Jeno? Oh, sorry, I think too much about him. I meant my friend, Jaemin.”

Jisung seemed even less convinced as he squinted his eyes but let it slide, changing the topic.

“You know what, let's go to the mall right now.”

The shopping mall they entered was really something else. Well, at least to Donghyuck. As much as he could act like phones with no buttons are a completely normal thing, giving no reaction to his surroundings was simply impossible. Jisung kept him company when they entered an electrical shop and observed with a mysterious smirk as the older boy stared at the new gadgets with a small 'And what the heck is that?’. The time was flying fast, soon they ate some junk food and headed out of the mall. Their next destination was a park and different shops Jisung found worth entering. At 8 PM they came back to the tea shop.

“Jisung, it says they're closed,” Donghyuck noticed the red neon sign.

“For ordinary customers.”

“And what are we?”

“Mark's friends.”

“Uh huh.”

“For real, the owner's a woman in her forties, she treats Mark like her son and that means she treats us like that too.”

“That's sweet of her,” Donghyuck walked into the shop as Jisung held the door for him.

“I know right? Hey, Mark, we're back, I'm going to the toilet, make Donghyuck something to drink please!” The younger boy shouted quickly while rushing to the staff room.

The waiter snorted and turned his head at the boy standing awkwardly near the exit.

“Donghyuck? Did you like the tea I made you earlier?”

“It was awesome,” the said male nodded his head with a smile.

“Great, I'll make you something even better this time. But you know, I'm still at work so you'll have to wait until I finish cleaning.”

“I can help you!”

“Really?” the waiter returned the smile. “Can you clean the glass?”

“Of course, I help at my aunt's restaurant sometimes,” Donghyuck grabbed the cloth towel Mark tossed to him and walked over the counter.

“Where are you from, though? I haven't seen you before.”

“Uh, I live on the Jeju island. I came here to visit my uncle.”

“That's unusual, people usually get out of the city for summer.”

“Yeah, but you know, it's been a while since I last time met him and he has a job here.” Donghyuck, in fact, had no idea if Jeno had a job but he assumed he must have a one.

“Hm, understandable,” Mark nodded, sweeping the floor energetically. “How did you met Jisung then? Sorry for asking so much but he's literally like my little bro.”

“It's alright, you can ask about anything you want,” Donghyuck chuckled, feeling more relaxed as the conversation carried on. “He accused me of being a stalker but then we started talking and eventually ended up playing games in a PC room for a few hours, nothing special.”

“Oh, nothing special indeed. Jisung is lucky with meeting friends in strange situations,” Mark shook his head with visible disapproval.

Soon, the youngest boy came back and the three stayed in the tea shop for a while. Donghyuck couldn't help but steal glances at the oldest boy. There was something special about him, maybe it was his smile, maybe the warm eyes… Or the absolutely awful, yellow, dotted button up.

“Alright! Donghyuck and I have to go, you go home too, Mark. Staying here overnight is pointless,” Jisung stood up enthusiastically, pointing his finger at his best friend.

“Okay,” Mark sighed, standing up as well. “Have fun and stay safe. Don't go near shady old men.”

“Nearly everyone there is a shady old man, Markie. Don't worry about us.”

“Now I'll worry even more but whatever.”

A few minutes later Donghyuck was already walking down the dark streets with Jisung happily rambling about something by his side. Their destination undoubtedly seemed like a place for shady old men to gather. It was far from the city center and pretty much was an old stadium, now full of different people but most importantly, full of motorbikes and racers.

Security threw the boys a questioning look but before they could ask for their I.D’s a short, dark-haired man in his thirties tapped them on the shoulders with a smile.

“They're in my crew.”

Donghyuck was getting stressed but when he saw Jisung's face brighten up at the sight of the man, he realized it was completely unnecessary.

“Mister! It's been a while,” the boy immediately locked arms with the man who, despite being over twenty years older, was in fact, a lot shorter than him.

“Yeah, it's nice to see you again, kid,” the racer chuckled. “And who's that friend of yours?”

“My name is Donghyuck,” the boy who had simply followed the two until now finally spoke up.

“Nice to meet you, Donghyuck. I'm Huang Renjun.”

And this way the two minors were smuggled into the venue of the not entirely legal motor racing. The more Donghyuck thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed to him. He knew Jeno was a big enthusiast of cars and motorcycles but due to his really heavy asthma, he would never be able to ride the second ones. Yet, here we are.

“Who was that guy?” he asked when they were already sitting on the tribune.

“He’s a Chinese racer and kind of a friend of mine, I guess. He always adopts me for the time of the race so I wouldn't get hurt.”

“That's sweet of him.”

“I know, right? But you see, there's one problem. He and Lee Jeno are very competitive and you know, when I talk with both it's kinda awkward.”

Donghyuck nodded and watched as the race began. The races, previously in a line, were now speeding in circles. The boy choked on the dust in the air. Three racers were visibly at the front, one of them slightly being left behind.

“The red one is Renjun!” Jisung shouted when the racer sped beside them.

“Which one's Jeno?”

“The dark blue one!”

Donghyuck focused on his best friend, now looking like a moving blue and black spot. He was slowing down for some reason. 'Jen, what are you doing?’ he mumbled quietly as he squinted his eyebrows. The race was coming to the end, few more seconds and the crowd cheered as the red racer crossed the line.

“Renjun won!”

But what caught Donghyuck's attention was how quickly Jeno left to inside of the venue and how a young girl immediately ran up to him.

“Jisung, who's that girl?”

“Which one?” the boy stood up to look over at the small group of people standing with Jeno and his motorbike.

“The one with a long, black ponytail,” Donghyuck pointed at her, gaining a sigh from Jisung.

“Donghyuck... That's your sister,” when the older boy stared at him with eyes wide open he continued, “That's Lee Jeno's niece, Sungkyung. And since he has only one sibling, your mom, that means Sungkyung is your sister.”

“Uh, I couldn't recognize her from afar, it's been a while since we last time saw each other, she lives here with our mom while dad and I stay on Jeju.”

Lame excuse, Donghyuck was fully aware of that. The girl must have been under twenty, since the last time Donghyuck checked, Jeno's sister, Sooyoung, was barely engaged.

When he looked at Jisung, he could clearly tell that he wasn't convinced and well, no wonder. Donghyuck already stopped counting the times he's slipped up.

“Whatever you say.”

Soon, the two headed down to the racers, Jisung stayed with Renjun while Donghyuck ran up to Jeno, now sitting and drinking something unidentified.

“Lee Jeno!”

The man looked up and his face brightened up as he stood up with wide eyes. He still looked the same, his black hair styled to the side, eyes glowing. But Donghyuck could clearly see some wrinkles on his face, making him look way more tired with life. 

“Oh my gosh, Donghyuck?!”

“That’s me,” the boy mumbled, locked in Jeno's tight hug.

“This is so sick, you’ve never mentioned anything about time traveling after the day you were supposed to… travel. I thought maybe, in the end, you never did. But what are you doing here, weren’t you supposed to meet your mom? In the past?”

“Yeah, that’s a bit complicated, I guess we can say that time traveling has gone wrong in this case… But it doesn’t matter, I’m here now.”

“We'll talk about that later then. I suppose you have no place to live, so feel welcome to my apartment. Now wait here for a second,” the man turned around and went back to his support crew.

One of the two girls patted the other one on the head as she nodded to Jeno's words. The brown-haired man laughed and nodded as well, calling another, black-haired guy over. The group talked for a short while and Jeno threw his keys to him, turning back to Donghyuck.

“Alright, let's go. We'll take a cab.”

“Wait, we need to go to Huang Renjun, my friend, Jisung, is with him,” the boy grabbed his arm.

“Heck no. I'm not going anywhere near this guy.”

“Come on, Jen. Aren't you like thirty-eight? I think it's time to stop acting like a child.”

Jeno snorted but let him lead to the Chinese racer. When the man noticed him, he didn't seem very happy too, giving him a fake smile.

“Oh, Lee! What brings you here? Did you come to congratulate me?”

“I'm not here for you, Huang. I came to see Jisung.”

“Aw, you're so bitter! The fourth place isn't that bad too, especially since you had an attack.”

“Oh, I beg, just shut up.”

Donghyuck decided to ignore the intriguing conversation as for now, agreeing with Jisung on meeting up in the tea shop the next day.

Taking Jeno away from Renjun was just as hard as taking him to him because for some reason the two seemed to enjoy their small argument. When Jeno and Donghyuck already walked out of the cab and were about to enter the not-so-tall building, the boy asked the first question.

“So for my own safety, I shouldn't know too much about the past that hasn’t happened yet in my case. That doesn't change the fact that I want to know something, though. Have you and Renjun ever been involved in an affair or something?”

Jeno stopped in the middle of unlocking the door and sent him a half shocked, half disgusted look. “What makes you think we have?”

“I don't know, it's just a very you-like thing to do. All of your romances were honestly pitiful. And he seems to know your weak points.”

“I’m much saner now, don't forget I'm nearly middle-aged. And he does know about them only because I was stupid enough to trust him once.”

“That's true, you freaking antique. But you've always had a thing for foreign men though. While we’re at the topic, what happened to Chenle? He's still in Korea in my times.”

“Yeah, I know. That was just a stupid summer love. I can't believe I fell for him even while knowing he'd leave in two months,” Jeno shook his head and let Donghyuck through the door.

“It wasn't stupid, Jeno. For you, it was twenty years ago but I saw you two being all over each other literally three days ago and I say it doesn't look like something completely insignificant.”

Jeno sighed, locking the door to his apartment back and throwing his bag on the floor. He headed to the kitchen and started preparing tea. “Sit down.”

Donghyuck did as said, staring at his best friend with anticipation.

“I’ll tell you something that might sound cruel, but well, that’s life. Even if he meant the world to me back then, now he’s just a boy I spent one summer with and have never confessed to. I had no choice but to move on, Hyuck. Then I had countless even less significant crushes I don’t even remember names of, fell in love, even proposed once… Chenle is just a sweet but silly memory from my youth.”

“Oh my goodness, Jen, I think you broke my heart,” Donghyuck clenched his fist and lifted it up to his chest in an overdramatic act but couldn't help his eyes getting watery. He was just a teenage boy, after all, his view and expectations of the world so different from the harsh reality.

“Don’t even try to cry here,” Jeno rolled his eyes but warmly patted the boy on the head.

“But you were engaged?” His voice cracked.

“Yes, yes I was. It would be nine years now.”

“What happened?” Donghuck asked cautiously, his teary eyes meeting Jeno’s calm ones.

“She was diagnosed with cancer,” the man said, his voice slightly choked up.

“Jeno… I’m so sorry,” Donghyuck hugged his best friend tightly. He couldn't let Jeno become this emotional mess. He didn’t know how yet, but he knew he has to go back to 1998 and change it so Lee Jeno, the best person he’s ever met, wouldn’t have to go through something like that.

“Don’t be. Hyuck, you don’t know it yet but, oh gosh, I should be the one to feel sorry. The actual Donghyuck from 2018 is just as broken as I am… Maybe even more, but I don’t think I can tell you why... Even though now we live far away from each other, I still think about you and pray for you.”

“You’ve never prayed before,” Donghyuck could feel his throat tightening. Seems like the two of them weren't destined to be lucky in life. At least in this alternative of life.

“Nine years ago, I started.”

“Damn, I don’t think I’ll fall asleep tonight,” the boy wiped the tears silently escaping his eyes.

“You will, Hyuckie,” Jeno patted him on the back and finished making tea, next grabbing the two cups and turning around to face the boy. “Jaemin’s not home today so you can sleep in his bed but if you feel like you need some emotional support I guess you can fit into my bed too.”

“I’ll squeeze into your bed then if you don’t mind… Wait, you live with Jaemin?”

“Yeah, he had nowhere to go so I took him in. He’s just as useless as twenty years ago, spending the majority of his time with his mysterious boyfriend I have never met, but he can cook so I don’t complain,” Jeno shrugged, leading to his room and soon landing on the bed with a sigh.

“You’ve just complained,” Donghyuck smiled teasingly, following his steps.

“Yeah but you know I love you guys and I have never had better friends in my life.”

“Gosh, Jen! We’re done with emotional topics for today or else you’ll have to deal with me crying for the next two hours.”

Jeno chuckled quietly and sat on the bed more comfortably, reaching for his tea from the cupboard. “Ask me some questions then.”

“Let me think... How did it happen that you can race at all? At eighteen you'd choke whenever the air would get a bit too dusty.”

“Medicine has gotten better, Hyuck. And Jaemin helped me quite a lot. But you witnessed on the race today that sometimes it gets pretty bad.”

“I see,” Donghyuck sipped some of his tea and yawned afterward.

“Maybe ask more questions tomorrow, huh? You seem pretty tired, kiddo.”

“Ugh, okay,” He got up and made his steps to the bathroom. “Wait, can I borrow some clothes?”

“Sure, choose something from the wardrobe.”

Soon, he came back from the bathroom and found himself wrapped in Jeno’s blanket. The bed was pretty uncomfortable and when Jeno joined him, it got even worse. It was still better than wandering around the city for the whole night, he must admit that, and actually, his best friend’s presence was quite comforting. It took him a really long time to finally fall asleep, his thoughts jumping from Mark to Jeno, then to Renjun and once again to Mark. He found him really cool, it's cute how this athletic-looking boy is so passionate about making teas and other drinks. Donghyuck couldn't help but smile, it's silly to get attached to someone who wasn't even born yet back in your times. But he already claimed Jisung as his kid, so he couldn’t care less. He doesn't know for how long he'll have to stay here anyway.

⦁ ● ⦁

“Jisung, you're not supposed to do that!” the waiter just hid his face in his palms, visibly done with his best friend.

“You're so boring, Mark!”

Donghyuck watched with an amused smile as the younger boy sucked each slice of lemon laying on the plate.

“I won, Donghyuck! You owe me a tea,” he shouted when he finished, pointing his finger at the boy with a victorious smirk.

“Don't ever bet on anything with him, Hyuck. He gains superpowers when it comes to money or his honor,” Mark chuckled as he was drying the plates over the counter.

“I see,” Donghyuck laughed as well. “Sadly, I'm broke but my lovely uncle will buy you whatever you want, right Jeno?” he turned his head to the man sitting next to him and sipping his tea quietly.

“Sure, anything for my best fan.”

“I feel touched,” the teenager tapped his chest with dramatic expression. “I won't take money from you, though, mister. It's no fun, I want Donghyuck's money.”

“That's not how I raised you!” The few customers in the shop heard from behind the counter.

“You have the most influence on a kid until it turns thirteen so I guess you missed those years, Canadian citizen!”

And that's how the conversation went, the four had surprisingly lots of fun and even the age gap between Jeno and them didn't seem like much of a problem. They would probably spend the morning really calmly but well, the doorbell rang, causing them all to turn their heads at the new customer. And as much as the other three greeted him with a smile, calling him over, Donghyuck's jaw dropped.

“Oh boy. What were those leaves you added to my drink, Mark?”

“Shh, it's alright, come with me and don't make a scene,” the newcomer whispered to Donghyuck and dragged him to the bathroom.

“What the heck is that supposed to mean, Jaem?” Donghyuck grabbed the other boy by the shoulders as soon as he closed the door, staring at him in disbelief.

“Calm down, Hyuck. Do you think your dad is the only person who can create time machines?” Jaemin shook off Donghyuck's hands and turned around to the mirror, fixing his brown hair. Brown hair with no signs of them ever getting white, unlike Jeno's. Donghyuck kept staring at the reflection of the boy's flawless face, with no wrinkles someone born in 1980 should have thirty-eight years later. He looked exactly the same way he looked back in 1998, just like Donghyuck.

“Damn.”

“I know right? Twenty years have passed and I'm still as hot.”

“You wish,” Donghyuck snorted, finally relaxing a bit. “How did you travel to the future, though?”

“Correction, for me it's to the past but I'll explain later.”

After those words, Jaemin dragged Donghyuck out of the bathroom and led them to the table occupied by the other guys. Ignoring the questioning looks, he sat between Jeno and Jisung and sent them a cheerful smile.

“Donghyuck and I are old friends. I didn't expect to see you here though, Jeno.”

Before Jeno could give any reaction, Jisung turned his head at the older men with a surprised expression, nearly knocking over his cup.

“You two know each other?!”

“Yeah, we share an apartment.”

“The question is, how do you two know each other?” Jeno stared at Jaemin and Jisung holding onto his arm.

“We're literally boyfriends.”

“What?!” Jeno and Donghyuck said in unison.

“This is getting strange. Anyone wants to add something?” Mark chuckled as he came to their table.

“My sister owns this tea shop,” Jeno smiled, looking at Mark's unreadable expression.

“Okay, this is getting really strange. Anything else?”

“Yeah, I'm not completely dense,” Jisung interrupted, sipping his tea.

“This is the most shocking information so far,” Jaemin snorted.

“No, I mean it. It took me two days to figure it out but in fact as soon as Donghyuck pulled out a Nokia 5110 I suspected the truth about you three.” The said men exchanged nervous looks. “Actually, Jaemin told me and Mark quite a lot so it was pretty easy. And you, Donghyuck, should really try harder to act like a teenager who hasn't lived two centuries ago. Try googling it.”

“What’s googling?”

“Gosh, you’re hopeless.”

“But how much does he know?” Donghyuck sent Jaemin a wary glare.

“Probably more than you.”

“Gosh,” the boy shook his head and walked up to the counter and Mark, listening to their conversation from afar.

“So you're the Donghyuck?” Mark sent him a surprised smile. “I can’t believe I meet you in person.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Jaemin told me a lot about you.”

“I'm genuinely afraid.”

“No need to,” Mark kept staring at him. “He said only good things. And that you suck at arcade games.”

“What? I completely disagree,” Donghyuck sent another glare at Jaemin who was just innocently sipping his tea.

“Well, I believe him unless you prove him wrong and play with me.”

“Deal,” the boy shrugged his arms, internally wondering what kind of 'good things’ Jaemin must have told the waiter for the guy's eyes not to leave him even for a moment.

The thing Donghyuck's always tried to learn is not to overthink, so this time he decided to let it slide as well. He must've admitted it though, it was a strangely amusing feeling.

The day continued pretty calmly, even though each of the five males lived through a little shock at least once. When Mark had too many customers to pay attention to the group and Jisung had to leave, the other three decided to head back home.

It was weird, Jeno, Jaemin, and Donghyuck living together. Of course, as kids, they were dreaming of living together in college but they've never expected it to actually happen. Yet there they were, in Jeno’s apartment in the heart of the capital.

“This doesn’t add up,” Donghyuck shook his head as his friends were trying to explain everything to him. “So Jaemin just won’t age until the point in history… uh, future? He came from, am I right? Alright, I won’t question this anymore then.”

“Exactly,” Jeno was sipping black coffee, with glasses on and a book in his hand, sitting in a big, red armchair. “Unless someone from the future will come to pick him up.”

“That’s… wild. I begin to get a bit lost,” the boy pulled his knees up on the couch and hugged them, only to be rather brutally embraced by Jaemin like two seconds later.

“Don’t worry that much, Hyuck, just have fun now that you’re here.”

“Uh, whatever. I want to watch something. Is there anything I must watch in your opinion?”

“The Terminator.”

“I saw both parts.”

“Donghyuck… There are five parts now.”

And that’s how the whole three ended up squeezed on the couch, watching the whole film series from illegal sites. Maybe it’s just him, but Donghyuck felt as if Jaemin and Jeno were kind of emotionally moved just by sitting there with him and drinking old coke. When you think about it, it’s, in fact, understandable, it must have been years since they last time did that, even though for Donghyuck their last sleepover was a week earlier. He didn’t like that though, he noted in mind to stay in touch with them forever no matter the circumstances.

When they were all finished and Donghyuck was close to tears as he realized he has to wait over twenty years to find out what happens next, it was already bright outside. Despite that, they decided to sleep anyway, Jen in his bed as his bones were all old and the two teens didn’t want him to complain about his back for the next two days. Jaemin and Donghyuck had no choice but to squeeze in Jaemin’s bed, with hardly any space to move.

“You know, it may not be a question for 5 AM but how are you and Jisung working? You’re like, a hundred years younger,” Donghyuck yawned against Jaemin’s grey T-shirt.

“Gosh, but I’m physically and mentally eighteen, sometimes people ask if I don’t feel weird dating a sixteen-year-old kid.”

Donghyuck chuckled quietly, with his eyes already closed. “Little do they know… But he said you’re leaving to America in a few years, is that true?”

“Of course, imagine what if I stayed a decade in the same place.”

“Yeah, but that means you’re leaving him.”

“I have to. He’d get old anyway and I would be still eighteen. At some point I’d look like his grandson, it’s not possible for us to date long-term,” Jaemin closed his eyes as well, throwing his am over Donghyuck, just like he used to do when they were younger, or at least when Donghyuck was.

“Why did you even start dating then?” the boy yawned once again, his voice becoming slower with each sentence.

“Because I genuinely like him. And even when his grandchildren will begin to get old, I will still have him in my heart and in my memories.”

“Honestly, that’s the saddest thing I’ve ever heard from you. You may not get older, but you get wiser for sure.”

Jaemin smiled quietly and sighed after a short while. “Now that I think about it…”

Donghyuck didn’t ask any more questions at the time. Just five minutes later Jaemin could hear his quiet snores and feel his warm breath over his chest. It was a nice feeling, to hold a teen Donghyuck in his arms again. Donghyuck who wasn’t wounded from what he’s gone through in his life, Donghyuck who didn’t even know such things would happen. Jaemin sighed once again, squeezing his eyes shut.

⦁ ● ⦁

“You know what, I’ve never actually asked why were you sent to the past,” Donghyuck slurped his spinach smoothie, staring at all the modern buildings they passed by.

“Oh right, I forgot it’s something you should know about,” Jaemin was slowly tiptoeing on the sidewalk, much to the displeasure of the others. “I’ll tell you when we come home, now I need to pick Jisung up from his summer class.”

“What am I supposed to do then?”

“I don’t know, visit Mark. I noticed that you two are getting along quite well.”

“Maybe because you ‘told him a lot about me,’ hm?” Donghyuck sent the other boy an annoyed glare.

“I only did that because I knew it would be beneficial for you!”

“Whatever.”

Jaemin shrugged and gave the older a quick peck on the cheek, before running to the other side of the street. Donghyuck let out a quiet sigh and shook his head, deciding to visit Mark in the tea shop, just like the younger had advised. When he reached his destination, Mark was sitting behind the counter and only three customers were talking quietly.

“Hi, Mark,” he smiled, walking up closer and sitting at a free table. The said boy’s face brightened up as he came closer and leaned on the counter.

“Donghyuck! What makes you come alone?”

“Jisung’s on a summer dancing class, Jaem’s with him and Jeno had to take someone’s shift.”

“I see, I hope you’re not bored,” Mark chuckled, crossing his arms.

“Actually, I am. You said you wanted to play together, When does your shift end?” Donghyuck got surprised at his own bravery. Asking Mark to hang out just like that? Unusual.

“In like, half an hour. Then my coworker, Jungwoo, will come and we’ll be able to go somewhere.”

“Awesome, but you'll have to pick a place since I still know nothing about Seoul.”

Mark chuckled in response and told the boy not to worry about it. Soon, his coworker came and Mark was able to go out. It was quite late already but the sky was still bright, allowing Donghyuck to clearly see the areas of the city he hasn’t explored before. Mark was a good driver, Donghyuck decided and felt a bit sad about the fact that they probably won’t be able to take such a ride again any soon. First thing, it was Mark’s dad’s car and second, the boy was absolutely against unnecessary rides and pollution. Donghyuck completely understood, but the thought of roaming around the city at dawn, with chill RnB playing in the background and Mark telling him stories while his hands are fixed on the steering wheel and his veins are visibly showing… Well, was kind of too strong. Jisung would suggest that Donghyuck is a bit whipped for Mark, but the older boy was unfamiliar with the concept and Jisung wouldn't explain it any further. He, however, assumed that he shared the opinion with his boyfriend and Jaemin clearly stated Mark is the new Koeun, so pretty much Donghyuck’s crush. And oh how he wished he could disagree, but the longer he listened to Mark ramble in the car, the less sure he was.

“Turns out Jaemin was right. You actually suck at games,” Mark laughed as he won once again against the younger.

“One more time,” Donghyuck was desperate to prove himself.

Mark let the boy restart and he seemed to be going easy on Donghyuck, which he didn’t like. He had to win without any help. Cheating is fine though. With that thought, he used one hand to grab Mark’s chin and kiss him on the cheek as he sent him a shocked look. The few seconds of distraction were enough for the younger boy to make final moves and beat Mark’s character.

“You see, I won.”

“That was unfair! What would you do if I kissed you on the cheek in the middle of the game?” Mark seemed genuinely offended and bitter that he lost.

“Well, in this kind of situations you have to take quick, unexpected moves, so I’d kiss you back.”

Mark laughed and Donghyuck couldn’t help but smile proudly as he noticed Mark’s cheeks flushing a bit red. He sure has always been brave but 21st century polluted air seems to have a weird impact on him. The two boys didn’t stay at the arcade for too long, but when they exited it, the sky was already navy blue with few stars visible due to the number of lights in the city.

“Where are all the stars?” Donghyuck complained on the way to Mark’s car. “I’ve spent so many nights stargazing with Jaemin and Jeno but now it doesn’t seem like a possible option.”

“I think if you came to your hometown, it would be, that part of the country hasn’t changed that much from what I’ve heard,” Mark started the engine and turned his head at the boy. “You mentioned earlier you’d like me to take you on a ride so guess I can make one exception for you. I just hope my dad won’t get mad.”

“Oh no, if you'll have to face some consequences because of me then you don’t have to,” Donghyuck quickly shook his head. “It just seems like a cool activity but I haven’t got a chance to experience it yet. Jaemin got his license like two weeks ago but we wouldn’t be able to take Jeno so there’s no point in doing that.”

“Jaemin can drive?” Mark widened his eyes. “It’s so weird to hear about him from you, he seems like a completely different person. Actually, he showed me his I.D’s, and according to them he is a different person so...”

“How did you found out about all of these time traveling things?” Donghyuck smiled at the boy and then looked out of the window to admire the nocturne view of Seoul.

“It was Jisung who found out. He seems like an edgy teen who skips half of his classes but he’s actually a pretty smart kid. He and Jaemin had been close even before they started dating so Jaemin didn’t control his words as much and slipped up a few times. And then the I.D’s. That was pretty scary at first, not gonna lie. But eventually, we ended up staying up all night while he was sharing his stories. Did you know that he was in Japan for ten years? Oh, of course, you didn’t. He’s able to stay in one place for ten years at most. He came to Seoul acting as if he was fifteen and is planning to stay until he turns twenty-five. People would get suspicious if he looked that young for any longer.”

“Oh yeah, understandable. He moved to Jeju at fifteen too,” Donghyuck nodded. “I’m still impressed that you act like it’s completely normal, same as me being eighteen when I should be thirty-eight.”

“I don’t believe in the concept of ‘normal’ anymore,” Mark chuckled. “Besides, I told you already that Jaemin mentioned you in his stories a lot and, honestly, it feels like I’ve known you for a long time.”

Donghyuck felt his heart warm up a bit, same as his face. “Sweet. What did he say about me, though?”

Mark gazed at the dark road for a while before answering with a small smile. “I told you. Good things. That you love spending time at the beach, watching sunsets with Jeno or going to the city center to eat ice cream with Jaem. And that you care about people a lot, you treat Jeno like your real brother and you would give up everything for him and for Jaemin and your dad as well. Oh, and he told me about your first love,” he added with a mischievous smirk. “Did you know she’s Jisung’s homeroom teacher now?”

“Oh no, please don’t mention her, Jaemin won’t let me live… It’s just because they fought, though. Has he told you about that?” Donghyuck continued with a smile when the older boy shook his head. “Jaemin seems to be a rather settled boy, dating Jisung and stuff, but in my times he was a total heartbreaker.”

“The nineties heartthrob,” Mark added with a chuckle.

“Exactly, I can’t even name all the girls… Heejin, Hyunjin, Chaeryeong, Yena and many more... There were only two girls who wouldn’t fall for his charms in our school, Hina and Koeun. And as much as Hina and Jaemin teamed up and were besties, Koeun couldn’t stand watching him leaving so many girls heartbroken and the two of them bicker every time they see each other.”

“Nakamura Hina?” Mark turned his head from the road to look at Donghyuck. “Jaemin said she was the one who helped him in Japan.”

“That’s very likely,” the boy nodded. “That girl’s always had a shocking amount of patience when it comes to Jaemin.”

Mark smiled and shook his head in reply, knowing patience is the key to deal with Jaemin, and both of them remained silent for a while. Donghyuck glanced at the boy for a while, confirming his theory that handsome men look even more handsome when they drive. Then Mark started a different topic and soon he asked for Jeno’s street name. And that’s when a minor inconvenience occurred since Donghyuck had no idea and nor he knew how to get there.

“Well,” Mark scratched his neck, eyes not leaving the road. “I’d take you home but my parents wouldn’t be happy if we woke them or my little sister up. Do you think Jeno or Jaemin is awake?”

“I texted both and have got no response so far, so probably not.”

“You can text from that old ass phone?”

“Hey, don’t disrespect my Nokia, it’s older than you!”

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about! But in that case, we have no choice but to sleep in the tea shop. It’s pretty comfortable, there’s a really nice staff room, Miss Sooyoung is a really thoughtful woman.”

“No problem… But Sooyoung,” Donghyuck let out a light laugh, “I can’t believe you described her like that. She must have changed a lot since I remember her as a girl whose mission in life was to make fun of Jeno and break every rule their mother set for them.”

Mark shrugged his shoulders. “According to Jisung, now her daughter took the role.”

“Ah, Sungkyung, he mentioned her… I can’t believe Sooyoung has a daughter.”

The boys would have continued the conversation, but Mark pulled up to the shop and they got out of the car. The waiter was right, the staff room itself was pretty comfortable but the fact that they had to squeeze on one couch wasn’t. There weren’t many hours left before they would have to get up anyway, so Donghyuck decided not to complain and focus on the positives, such as the fact that he was lying next to Mark who was pretty warm and had nice perfumes.

⦁ ● ⦁

Before Donghyuck even realized, a week passed since he found himself in 2018. And then two, and three… The boys were still enjoying the summer break, spending lots of their free time at the tea shop, cinema, park, literally anywhere they would have fun and to have fun they really didn’t need much.

“I’ll help you get in,” Jeno sent them the last smile before riding off.

Jaemin shook his head with a sigh. “I can’t believe we’re going to see an illegal motor racing competition.”

“It’s not _that_ illegal,” Jisung protested.

“What kind of answer is that?!” Jaemin huffed and hit the younger boy’s arm lightly.

“Oh, Jaemin, come on, it’ll be fun. Why are you mad at me for watching and not mad at Jeno for participating?”

“Because he’s an adult man who’s able to protect himself and you’re a sixteen-year-old boy who I feel responsible for,” Jaemin explained calmly, ignoring Jisung pulling down his sleeve.

“That’s his way of saying ‘I care for you a lot and if something happened to you I would never forgive myself because you’re the light of my life,’ I think,” Donghyuck added and slurped his mint tea until the end.

“Aw, Jaemin, I always knew you L-worded me,” Jisung gave his boyfriend an overly-sweet smile.

“I sure do L-word you,” Jaemin tried hard not to cringe.

“What kind of nonsense…” Donghyuck furrowed his eyebrows, looking at the two.

“Don't mind them, they’re just too much of cowards to say that they love each other,” Mark sighed and finished up cleaning so the four teenagers could head to the old stadium. Jeno showed up a bit too late and the security had already checked Mark’s I.D card, but thankfully soon enough for the security not to find out that he’s the only one who actually owns a one.

“Okay boys, I have some nice seats for you. You can talk to my crew before the race starts,” Jeno patted Donghyuck and Mark on their backs and stormed off somewhere.

“Let’s go?’ Donghyuck sent an unsure look to the older boy and eyed Jisung and Jaemin who went to see Huang Renjun. Mark nodded with a smile and walked up to a bunch of people next to Jeno’s blue motorbike. After short greetings, they introduced themselves, and the group consisted of Yuta, a mechanic, Doyoung, mental support, Sungkyung, also nicknamed Lami, an aspiring nurse, and Yeri, Sungkyung’s unofficial babysitter. Just after Mark said his name, Sungkyung squinted her eyes at the younger boy.

“You look like a younger version of my uncle Donghyuck.”

And as much as Donghyuck was touched by the fact that Sooyoung’s daughter calls him uncle, he felt his heart stop for a while. He almost got himself in a disastrous situation.

“He must be a handsome man then. Anyways, I’m Haechan.”

Mark gave him an impressed look, causing the boy to smile. Jisung and Jaemin joined them after a while, the younger immediately picking up a small argument with Sungkyung. “Don’t worry,” Yeri told them then, “it’s just one of their hobbies.” Jaemin stated that Huang Renjun is his favorite man from now on and that he trusts him with Jisung more than he trusts Jeno, which Jeno would get offended at, but he just appeared on the start line. Donghyuck had to admit that this time the race was pretty boring, Jeno and Renjun fighting for the first place as usual, according to Jisung. Once again, the Chinese racer won by a matter of few seconds.

Despite his loss, Jeno seemed genuinely happy and he came to his group of friends with a smile, even winking at Renjun who just burst out with laughter in response. The whole group of now nine people wanted to hang out but Doyoung disapproved and ordered the four minors to get back to their houses. As surprising as it sounds, the teenagers obeyed it and the boys helped Sungkyung get back to her apartment. The next one on the way was Jisung’s house where Jaemin decided to stay as well. This way, Mark and Donghyuck ended up in Hyuck’s and Jaemin’s bed, since the boy refused to stay alone for the night. He didn’t even think twice before snuggling closer to Mark, positive the other wouldn’t mind. And he indeed did not mind, immediately hugging Donghyuck back. The two stayed up for a while, talking about different insignificant stuff and giggling from time to time. Jeno’s good mood must have been contagious. 

⦁ ● ⦁

After two months Donghyuck had to constantly remind himself that it’s not his original timeline. He got so used to making Jeno coffee in the morning, walking Jisung to his dance classes, playing good quality games with Jaemin and helping Mark at the tea shop, that he couldn’t imagine his days without it. But then summer break was over, and the three boys were stuck in school for hours again. Mark began working only on weekends, but that didn’t stop him and Donghyuck from seeing each other almost every day. Donghyuck finally met Mark’s family, his strict but nice parents and lovely but nonstop crying sister, and was warmly welcomed, so often when he came to pick up Mark from school, he stayed at his place for a while. The two would lie on Mark’s bed then, with countless textbooks around them, some leftover snacks and ‘90’s music playing in the background. And for Donghyuck it was perfect, he really didn’t need anything else. Maybe a hug. Because yes, he admitted that Jaemin and Jisung were right and he’s utterly whipped, hopelessly in the so-called ‘L-word’ with Mark Lee.

“Nice to see you, Markie,” Donghyuck walked into the tea shop one Saturday to be met with the waiter’s warm smile.

“You literally saw me two days ago.”

“I did, but it’s still nice to see you on this sunny day, birds chirping, flowers blooming,” the boy walked over to the counter, being the only customer this early anyway, “people falling in love…”

“Sorry to burst your bubble, Hyuck, but it’s Autumn and no flowers are blooming. But the rest is true for sure.”

Their first kiss was completely unexpected, followed by silent stares of disbelief. And then another kiss. After that event, a lot has changed. First thing, their friends would constantly make fun of them, and second, they would share more shy kisses while studying for Mark’s exams or cleaning up in the tea shop. But most importantly, something was clearly wrong. It Donghyuck a while to realize and he tried to ignore it but when he witnessed part of his arm glitch and fade, he couldn’t do that anymore. The universe began to get frustrated with his long stay in the timeline he didn’t belong to.

“Donghyuck, I saw that. No need to cover yourself with that blanket,” Jaemin once said as he was about to go to bed, Donghyuck already in and pretending to be asleep.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m talking about half of your upper body parts fading away. Did you perhaps noticed such thing happening recently?” he added ironically.

Donghyuck turned over to his side, facing the younger boy. “Yeah… Do you think it’s my time to get back to 1998?”

Jaemin sighed with visible concern on his face. “Probably yes. You should finally tell Mark what are your feelings for him.”

“Is there any point in doing so? Also, I think he knows,” Donghyuck’s cheeks flushed slightly red.

“Hyuck, Jisung and I have been dating for like a year and he first said ‘I love you’ a week ago. I deadass cried.”

“It’s not that hard to make you cry though,” he mocked, gaining a light kick from the other.

“You get my point. Do it or else you’ll have regrets later.”

⦁ ● ⦁

The day came, Donghyuck and Mark sitting on the older’s bed again, Michael Jackson’s ‘You are not alone’ playing in the background, last rays of the sun lightening up the room. Donghyuck could feel Mark's lips brushing lightly against his, but he couldn’t focus on them, his thoughts wandering far away.

“You seem a bit off, Hyuck. What happened?” Mark grabbed Donghyuck’s chin to look him in the eyes. “Are you feeling alright? Oh gosh, are those tears I see?”

The younger boy sniffled and pressed his lips against Mark’s one more time, both soon tasting his warm, salty tears. Mark wanted to pull away and ask more questions, visibly concerned, but he didn’t let him, holding him close for a while. When he finally let go, he kept his eyes shut, forcing back tears.

“Donghyuck… Do you want to talk?”

The latter looked up and nodded. “I do. I need t tell you something. I think it’s my last day here.”

“What do you mean?” Mark furrowed his eyebrows, grabbing Donghyuck’s arm, as if to keep him near forever.

“I guess we can say the nineties are calling me back,” the younger let out a sad chuckle. “I’m disappearing, Mark. Fading away.”

“No, please no. Say it’s a joke,” the grip on Donghyuck’s arm tightened.

“I wish, Markie. But you see, this is the end,” Donghyuck noticed his lower body becoming less and less visible.

“Donghyuck…” Mark’s desperate voice was hurtful to hear.

“That’s it. I love you, Mark.”

“I love you too, Donghyuck. Please… Stay with me,” the older boy’s eyes were teary now as well.

Donghyuck used his last bits of energy to lean forward and just as his and Mark’s lips touched, the world has gone blank.

⦁ ● ⦁

When Donghyuck opened his eyes again, he was in a dark room, lightened by only one ugly, yellow lamp. The room was his garage, and he was lying in the time machine as if it was all just a dream. He felt pure horror when this thought came to his mind. It couldn't have been just his imagination, right? He stormed off to his house, bumping into his dad making coffee in the kitchen.

“Oh, Donghyuck? Did everything go well? You’re back quickly, I’ve just come back from the garage.”

“I don’t know if it went well, dad,” Donghyuck started to choke up as he held back his tears. “I don’t know if it went any way at all.”

“What do you mean, son?”

“I traveled to 2018 instead of 1978. If I traveled at all…”

“Donghyuck,” the man sighed and put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “I saw you disappear with my own eyes. And I’m not surprised. After reading so many science books you should have known that traveling back in time is impossible for us. I just hoped it would work.”

Donghyuck blinked a few times before letting out a sigh as well. His father didn’t insist on telling him the story, he advised the boy to tell him when he’s ready. Donghyuck felt glad but a bit guilty too, as a few hours later he blabbered everything to Jeno.

“Gosh, Jen. I’ve just lived through the craziest and saddest thing in my life,” Donghyuck shook his head, sipping his green tea and hugging his knees.

“I can tell, you look absolutely awful. It’s visible in your eyes,” Jeno stated, leaning against the white door frame and staring the grey sky through the window, the sea getting darker as a storm was coming.

“Thanks, but no wonder,” And then Donghyuck told Jeno the whole story, purposely missing out on details about the future boy himself.

“Oh my goodness… That Mark kid, he’s not even born yet. Do you think he’ll know about you? Will he live through this in twenty years?” Jeno sighed and lied on his bed, facing his best friend.

“I don’t know, Jeno. I know nothing.”

“But you know what I’m going to do in the future, right? What I’ll be like.”

“What I saw has nothing to do with what your actual future, Jeno. It’s just a possibility that I won’t allow happening. You were unhappy and I disapprove that,” Donghyuck’s expression tensed. “The two of us, according to what you said, both had shitty jobs, broken hearts and the lack of happiness. We have to focus on our lives. I know we’re young and reckless and I’ve never thought of what I’ll do at forty, but if we don’t we’ll end up like that again.”

“This is so weird but you’re right, Hyuck. But it’s hard to imagine me in a big city, doing cool stuff,” Jeno shrugged. “As for now, there’s no hope for me to get out of this island.” A flash of lightning interrupted him.

“Jeno, listen to me,” Donghyuck grabbed the boy by his shoulders. “Never give up on you effing dreams, do you understand? Find a hobby, learn a language. Oh, look, Chenle is Chinese, he can help you. And about Chenle, don’t give up on him as well.”

Jeno’s eyes widened as he heard the last bit of advice but he nodded, changing the topic to Jaemin and if there was anything unusual about him. Turns out Jeno knew since the very beginning that Jaemin is from the future, but the two of them decided to keep it a secret for as long as possible. Later this week, at their sleepover, Jaemin explained why was he send to the past, how corrupted the world is in his times and how Donghyuck’s female descendant will be an important figure in politics, but due to the amount of illegal time traveling there was a threat that she would never be born. To which Donghyuck responded ‘What kind of Terminator nonsense is that?’ and immediately thought about Mark. Was the threat Donghyck being gay? And if so, why did Jaemin encourage him then? As if reading his thoughts, Jaemin shrugged and mumbled ‘Your happiness matters more to me though. I get attached quickly.’

And so on, time was flying fast, Donghyuck’s memories of the 21st century getting less and less vivid as years passed.

⦁ ● ⦁

“Mindong! Come back here!” Donghyuck sent the little girl a stressed look, just as she turned around and continued running. Having no other choice, he chased after her again, grabbing her by the shoulder just in front of a shop door.

“Dad, look, this lady has balloons! Can you get me a one, please?” Mindong pulled down Donghyuck’s sleeve, trying to get his attention but his eyes were fixed on the door.

“You were naughty, why would I buy you a balloon, Mindongie?” The man raised an eyebrow at the kid.

“Pretty please, dad!”

Donghyuck grew up to be a weak man. Especially when it comes to his daughter. Since the girl never got to meet her mother, he felt obligated to provide her anything that would make her happy. So, Mindong got a big, pink balloon.

“Do you want to come in, dad? You keep looking at this shop,” the girl noticed, pointing at the tea shop with her finger.

“Yeah, we can come in. It’s aunt Sooyoung’s shop.”

“Is Sungkyung here, please say she’s here, dad,” Donghyuck laughed and shook his head while holding the door for the girl.

He almost automatically sat at the table near the counter, experiencing a really unpleasing feeling of longing. He missed that shop, yet came here for the first time in years, successfully avoiding it each time he came to Seoul to visit Jaemin, Jeno and Chenle.

The waiter came to ask for their order, wearing his usual business smile. Soon, he came back with Donghyuck’s matcha tea and raspberry flavored one for the girl.

“What’s your name, flower?” the young waiter put the cup in front of her with a smile.

“Mindong! What’s yours?”

“What a sweet name. I have two names since I used to live in America, it’s far away, you know. You can call me Mark or Minhyung, whichever you prefer.”

“Oh my gosh! Dad and I are flying to America too! Should I get a second name like you?”

“I think Minnie will be fine,” Mark chuckled. “And may I ask what’s your name, sir?” The boy’s eyes met with Donghyuck’s.

The man who just silently watched his daughter and the waiter talk with a smile cleared his throat, unsure of what to do. “I’m Haechan.”

Mindong cocked her head up to look at him with furrowed eyebrows, but before she could say anything, Mark replied with a simple ‘Nice to meet you’ and had to take an order from a new customer, leaving the two alone. Donghyuck’s thoughts were racing at a dangerous speed, as he was wondering if Mark knows about Donghyuck’s existence. If it ever happened to him. Suddenly he recalled Jeno’s words from the time he time traveled, how he said Chenle was just his summer love, long forgotten and insignificant. Donghyuck wished he could have that mindset to forget about Mark too. They weren’t meant for each other in this lifetime.

When he finished his tea, he grabbed a pen and left a small note on the napkin.

_MJ ‘You are not alone,’ 3:02._

After that, he grabbed Mindong’s hand, said a quick ‘goodbye’ and exited the tea shop, bumping into a tall, edgy-looking boy at the door who just blinked at him with confusion.

“We have to visit uncle Jeno and uncle Chenle first, Mindongie,” Donghyuck stated, heading to the city center. “They’re leaving to China soon after we’ll have arrived in the U.S.A.”

“What about Jaemin?” the girl asked, squinting her eyes.

“We’re taking him with us, of course,” he replied, gaining a groan from the girl.

“He treats me like a child all the time!”

“That’s because you are a one, Mindong, but don’t worry, you’ll be the one treating him like a child one day.”

The girl didn’t seem to be satisfied with the answer, but she remained quiet. Donghyuck turned his head back before crossing the street. His eyes met two boys standing near the huge window of one certain tea shop as if to look at him too. He smiled. Maybe in another lifetime.

**Author's Note:**

> if you made it here then i'm sincerely glad and sorry if you're not satisfied with the ending, but you see, that's how it had to be. many scenes didn't make it to this version but i'm willing to share them and maybe i'll add them here one day.. hmu on [twitter](https://twitter.com/lunariajen) if you'd like to~


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